Hey guys, I got a lot out of these forums when I was an undergrad and I've decided its time to give back.
I went to a top target as an undergrad and have been working on the equity side at a mutual fund on the east coast with 100B+ AUM for about a year now.
I'd be happy to answer any questions or clear up any misconceptions you guys have. I just ask that you please don't try to figure out where I work. Thanks and ask away.
Typical day non earnings season:
5:45: Wake up, walk the dog, if it's raining, regret getting the dog. Shower, coffee breakfast 7:00: Get to office, fire up NYT, WSJ and FT, read headlines and catch up on news fire up factset and see if any of my companies are trading down or up on any news 7:30: Analyst comes in, update him on anything critical, see if he has any fire drills regarding a pm presentation or a company he's worried about. 8:00: Assuming nothing mission critical, continue projects from prior day, could be working on a model, conducting preliminary due diligence on new coverage, reading some research etc. 11:30 Grab lunch, eat at desk 12:00 Check in with analyst, often at this point he'll have something that he wants done, whether it's a rehash of a company's last 10 earnings calls, management comp analysis, reviewing assumptions in a model. Of late, he's been looking for me to add more of my opinion on some companies he should be looking for in his industry to upgrade or downgrade. Analysts carry a lot of sway, so if he upgrades or downgrades a name, it will be entering or leaving portfolios in size shortly after. 4:00: After market close is less urgency, some very senior people will leave soon after, I'll start focusing on some independent projects, a few smaller cap companies that I think are interesting. Looking at a company, the minimum requirement is reading the last 10 Qs and the last 3 Ks, so a lot of time is spent reading. 6:00: Clear my desk, finish up any last thoughts, mark what I did today, write down anything crucial that needs to be done for tomorrow. 6:30 Leave, I rarely bring work home unless it's earnings season or there's a pm going insane over a company. 7:00: Gym 8:15 Get home, shower, cook dinner, clean, read the economist, or maybe espn if I have some time 9:30 Sleep.
Best SA experience is probably another mutual fund or deep value hedge fund. Next best is any buy side experience, after that is academic/economic, i.e the Fed. Sell side research is probably tied with that. Worst is banking, my shop doesn't respect bankers at all.